


anchored home in her interstellar sea

by Hollstein1698



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, only a little bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-11
Updated: 2015-04-11
Packaged: 2018-03-22 09:36:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3724015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hollstein1698/pseuds/Hollstein1698
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura doesn't like letting Carmilla out of her sight. Carmilla doesn't like the dark.</p>
            </blockquote>





	anchored home in her interstellar sea

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Sara Bareilles' "Cassiopeia."
> 
> Set after the Christmas special. Pretty mindless fluff. I just really miss Hollstein.

The snow is falling thick. It’s dark and everything is quiet except for the slight huffs coming from the humans. June Cleaver’s having the easiest time of it; clearly she keeps in shape. She’s marching along quietly, which is different. Usually her mindless chatter is ceaseless. Ginger Twin Number One is struggling to keep up with her, trudging through the snow unhappily. Clearly they don’t accompany their best friend on gym outings.

And Laura. Well, Laura eats a lot of cookies.

Carmilla smiles at the back of Laura’s head fondly, thinking about the stack of gingerbread cookies she had consumed the night before. Ridiculous human.

She lets out a small chuckle without realizing, and Laura turns to look behind her. “What’s so funny, vampire?”

“Nothing, cupcake. Nothing at all.”

Laura scowls at Carmilla’s thinly veiled tone of amusement, and pays for it by tripping over a tree stump. She face plants into a pile of snow.

Again.

And it is just as hilarious as the first time.

Carmilla doubles over in laughter at the look of Laura’s incensed face covered in snow as she glares up at Carmilla from the ground. LaF and Perry both turn at the noise and Laf joins in with Carmilla’s laughter while Perry hurries over to help haul Laura up, checking her feet to make sure she didn’t twist an ankle.

“Laura, honestly, you need to be more careful. I’m starting to think LaFontaine has been a bad influence on you,” Perry says, brushing the snow off of Laura’s shoulders.

“I’m fine, Perry, I’m fine. I was just distracted.” She shoots Carmilla a glare.

“Well, anyway,” LaFontaine starts, brushing tears of mirth from the corner of their eyes, “Maybe we should set up camp soon. The snow is getting really bad. And I’m exhausted.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right, sweetie.” Perry unslings her backpack and plops it on the ground. “Here’s as good a place as any.”

Carmilla privately agrees. There’s nothing but trees everywhere around them, no path in sight, and they’re still probably about another day’s trek from the next town. Or so they had been told by the inhabitants of the weird Christmas village.

Perry, LaFontaine and Laura all busy about setting up their tents. Carmilla briefly considers loafing around with one of her paperbacks just to annoy them, but instead thinks she might as well go collect some wood so she can set it on fire later. She’s annoyed Laura enough for one day, she thinks.

She turns around and starts walking away from the rest of the group when she is rocked forward suddenly by a tiny human throwing herself at Carmilla’s back in a tight hug. Carmilla lets out a surprised “oof” before looking behind her to see Laura’s face buried in her sweater. “You alright there, cutie?”

“Just don’t wander too far, okay?” Laura mumbles into her back.

Carmilla smiles softly. “I’m fine, Laura.”

“You’re fine now. What happens if you run into a bear or something?”

“I’ll eat it.”

“Ugh, that’s gross, Carm.” Laura playfully shoves Carmilla away from her, and Carmilla turns around to face her, still smiling.

“You know you don’t have to do this every time I walk ten paces away from camp, right?” Carmilla knows why Laura does, but she doesn’t like the constant state of worry and gloom that Laura’s been in since they fled campus.

“Yeah, I know. But still.” Laura shyly plays with the sleeve of Carmilla’s sweater. She looks like she wants to say more, but Perry is calling Laura back over to help her with the tents.

  
“I’m just going to go rip bark off of some trees, Laura. I’ll be right back. Go help the Ginger Twins.” Carmilla leans in to give Laura’s cheek a peck before she turns around and continues out into the trees.

Carmilla doesn’t wander too far, even though she knows she can handle herself. Gorging on that insane Christmas monster had helped her a lot. She had been starving, and now she could probably go another few days without having to lower herself to eating another badger. To be quite honest, a bear didn’t sound half so bad…

She joins back up with the group ten minutes later with her arms full of bark and logs. Laf grins appreciatively at the fact that Carmilla had ripped apart tree trunks with her bare hands and Carmilla tries not to let them flatter her.

“Alright, once Carmilla starts the fire, we can get to cooking the deer meat she caught for us yesterday,” Perry says, very clinically as though listing what they needed to do brought her some kind of peace of mind.

“Thanks, by the way, it’s pretty cool that you’re taking care of us like this,” Laf interjects casually, starting to arrange the firewood in the middle of their little clearing.  


Carmilla grumbles something unintelligible.

The sun sets while Perry and Laura cook their deer meat. Laf and Carmilla sit off to the side, pouring over the Sumerian book they had taken with them from campus. They had been trying to figure out more about what was living under the big pit in the Lustig, and they still hadn’t gotten too far along. Carmilla was starting to get fed up with this book, and Laf was starting to wish desperately for a computer to do some proper research on, but the giant tomb of Do Not Want was their only resource for now.

“Dinner’s ready,” Perry calls from in front of the fire. Laf gets up to grab themselves their plate, while Carmilla stays a safe enough distance from the flames and waits for Laura to amble over to her with her own food.

“You sure you don’t want any?” Laura asks around a mouthful of food when she settles down between Carmilla’s legs and leans back against her.

Carmilla wraps her arms around Laura’s stomach and props her head up on her shoulder. “I’ll pass, cupcake. Still full.”

Laura makes a face at that, but doesn’t comment.

Laf and Perry sit down next to them, and everyone is quiet as they eat. Starving as they are, they finish fairly quickly.

“I’m going to check the surroundings a bit before we sleep, make sure there aren’t any werewolves lurking around or anything.” Carmilla starts to disentangle herself from Laura, but Laura stubbornly won’t let go of Carmilla’s arms that circle her waist.

“No. Stay.”

“Yeah, Carmilla, you already did so much for us these past couple nights.” Laf puts down their plate and stands, stretches, then grins. “I don’t mind doing some recon tonight. You in, Perr?”

Perry’s face contorts in apprehension, but she nods anyway. “Alright. Werewolves. Got it.”

“You both really don’t have to, I don’t mind—”

“Oh, we know it isn’t you that minds.” Laf smiles at Laura in a don’t worry frosh, I got your back, kind of way.

“Thanks Laf. I’ll go with you tomorrow, if we don’t reach the town by then.” Laura grabs the empty plates and starts to clean them off with some snow before returning them to Perry’s pack (of course she hadn’t left Silas without bringing plates and cutlery). Laf and Perry both arm themselves with flashlights and some bear spray before trudging off together, Laf making some sort of monster hunter joke that Perry doesn’t seem to appreciate.

Carmilla frowns at their retreating backs then turns her gaze to Laura, who’s rummaging around in her sack for god knows what. Carmilla sighs, walks over to her and gently sets her backpack aside. Laura looks up at Carmilla questioningly, but Carmilla just cradles Laura’s cheeks and kisses her softly.

They didn’t exactly have a lot of opportunities to kiss much since they’ve been on the run with the Ginger Twins, Carmilla not being a fan of PDA. She spends a lot of time daydreaming about being able to kiss Laura whenever she feels like it, and not under their current circumstances. The sigh that Laura breathes into her mouth sends a chill down Carmilla’s spine. She slowly breaks the kiss before she can get carried away, resting their foreheads together. “Cupcake. Please stop worrying. I know you three are more than capable of handling yourselves, but I seriously think it would be safer for all of us if I’m the one out there making sure werewolves aren’t going to bear down on our camp during the night.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I love having you help out instead of lounging around and doing nothing, but I’m not exactly sure how I feel about this new, considerate Carmilla. What happened to my lazy, apathetic vampire roommate?” Laura is pouting, and Carmilla knows she doesn’t mean it as an insult.

“She became your lazy, apathetic vampire girlfriend. And new responsibilities come with the title, cutie. Like making sure you don’t get eaten by a werewolf.”

Laura’s pout is still in place as she hides her face in Carmilla’s neck, wrapping her arms around Carmilla’s waist. “You never cared much for responsibilities.”

“I never cared much for anything or anyone as much as I care about you.”

The sincerity in her voice shocks even herself. Surrounded by the Ginger Twins as they have been, they haven’t talked much at all about anything concerning feelings since leaving campus. The days have been an endless trek, and Carmilla spent most of it trying not to pass out from lack of blood and exhaustion. Her wits had returned to her completely thanks to her Christmas dinner, and it was making her chatty.

Laura nuzzles further into Carmilla’s neck, squeezing her waist in a tight hug. “I care about you too.”

Carmilla smiles and presses a kiss to the top of Laura’s head. “Come on, Laura. Let’s get you to sleep, yeah?”

“No. Not unless you’re joining me tonight.”

It had taken Carmilla the better part of a week to adjust to sleeping at night, and even though she could do it, it was still hard. Tonight she didn’t feel tired, and she knew it would be useless to try and find sleep. “I’m going to stay up and watch camp tonight.”

Laura whines Carmilla’s name disapprovingly. “You’re gonna be useless in the morning if you don’t sleep tonight.”

“I’ll be fine in the morning. And then I’ll be tired enough to sleep tomorrow night.”

Laura squints at her. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

+++

Laura makes her stay with her until she falls asleep anyway. Carmilla grumbles a little, but she does what Laura asks regardless. Laura is curled up in her sleeping bag, Carmilla sitting with her chin resting on one propped up knee. She’s playing with Laura’s hair absentmindedly, listening to her steady breathing.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so… clingly,” Laura mutters, her voice thick with sleep.

“You’re giving your dad a run for his money,” Carmilla jibes playfully, brushing a few strands of hair out of her face.

Laura’s eyes are still closed—she’s obviously half asleep—but she frowns anyway. “That’s mean.”

“I’m only joking, cupcake.”

Laura falls silent again. Carmilla thinks maybe she’s fallen asleep when Laura speaks again, her voice soft and heavy with exhaustion. “I just don’t want to lose you again.”

Carmilla stares at Laura quietly. She knew what Laura had gone through when she thought she had died. Laf and Perry had told her in hushed voices one night while Laura was sleeping. They told her about how a good portion of the Silas student body thought she was responsible for getting Carmilla killed. How Laura had blamed herself, how she had told them as much one particularly bad night through incoherent sobs. How little she ate. How little she slept.

Laura herself hadn’t told her any of these things. Carmilla had never been very forthcoming about talking about her feelings, and Laura probably picked up on that. Carmilla made up her mind to have an actual conversation about everything that had happened back at Silas the second this insane hiking trip through the Styrian Mountains was over.

Carmilla’s head turns towards the sounds of Laf and Perry returning to camp. That was her cue to sit out by the dying fire and let them sleep. She looks back down at Laura, and judging by her deep breathing and slightly open mouth, she had finally fallen asleep. Carmilla presses a light kiss to Laura’s temple before ambling out of their tent.

“The area is werewolf free, captain.” Laf gives Carmilla a dorky salute that makes Carmilla roll her eyes.

“Go to sleep, Ginger Twins.”

“You’re not sleeping tonight, Carmilla?” Perry asks, frowning. Her eyes flit over to Carmilla’s tent, no doubt wondering how she managed to get Laura to be okay with this.

“Not tired, Shirley Temple. Go to sleep.” Carmilla sits down with her back against a tree trunk and she waves Laf and Perry into their tent. They thank her quietly, and Carmilla just hums in response.

The Ginger Twins make as little noise as possible while they settle in for the night. Carmilla yanks out a paperback from her back pocket, doing her best not to eavesdrop on any of Laf and Perry’s hushed conversations.

Carmilla doesn’t read for long. Once their camp goes quiet for good, she sets her book aside and focuses her gaze skyward.

She thinks about her mother. She thinks about Will, and some of the other vampires who got staked in the fight. She thinks about Ell, bathed in unholy light, beckoning for Carmilla to join her in it. She thinks about Laura’s face before she drove the sword into the light.

She thinks about darkness. She thinks about that one for a while. Carmilla loves the stars for many reasons, not the least of which being because they provide light when the rest of the world has gone black. She thinks about her long stints in it. In her coffin. Under the water to retrieve the sword. Under the big pit in the Lustig.

She lets the faint glow of the stars and the dying fire sooth the anxiety that’s building up at the thought of her time in all that darkness. She spends a long time looking for constellations with the ease of many years of practice, finding peace in tracing them with her eyes.

So lost is she in her stargazing that she doesn’t notice when a soft body presses against her side. Carmilla’s head shoots down, and she tenses, her fangs slipping past her bottom lip.

  
“S’only me, Carm.” Carmilla relaxes instantly, retracting her fangs and breathing a sigh of relief as she takes Laura in.

Laura has one of the heavy blankets she keeps in her overlarge backpack wrapped tightly around her. Her eyes are so heavily lidded with sleep, they’re practically closed. She leans into Carmilla’s side, and Carmilla wraps an arm around her shoulders. “What are you doing up, cutie?”

“Nightmare,” she breaths, sleep making her voice soft and unfocused. She rests her head on Carmilla shoulder and closes her eyes, clearly trying to go back to sleep. “Didn’t wanna be ‘lone.”

Carmilla kisses her temple. “You’re okay now.”

“Mhm.” Laura wraps an arm around Carmilla’s waist and snuggles into her side. She falls back asleep almost immediately.

Carmilla spends the last few nighttime hours letting Laura’s presence sooth her completely out of her earlier melancholic thoughts. She marvels at how _not alone_ she is now. Even having Ginger One and Two around was starting to feel nice, though Carmilla would never admit it out loud. She has friends. She has Laura. And they provide more light in her life than the distant, unreachable stars ever did.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr: http://hollstein1698.tumblr.com/


End file.
